Contactless mobile fingerprinting capture device and method of use

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 18/230,783 files on Aug. 7, 2023, which claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 63/349,661 filed on Jun. 7, 2022, both of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

This invention relates to the field of fingerprint capture, forensic examination, and mobile applications.

Many devices and methods for fingerprint capture are available on the market. Most require a person to make physical contact with a hardware device in order for the person's fingerprint image to be captured. Some techniques are available for contactless fingerprint capture. However, many of these techniques have difficulty accurately measuring distance or scale of fingerprint images, which is important for database comparison. Many such devices and methods also use image processing algorithms that have difficulty transforming and processing optical images of fingerprints into images that accurately represent minutiae and other features that are important for database comparison and forensic examination, particularly in the presence of image distortion and varied lighting conditions.

Fingerprint capture devices which require physical contact with the person whose fingerprints are to be captured present challenges for entities or organizations making use of such devices, including, but not limited to, hardware acquisition costs, hygienic concerns, and lack of cooperation by persons whose fingerprints are to be captured.

When capturing fingerprint images from latent, patent, or plastic fingerprint impressions, such as those found in a crime scene, there is a necessity to avoid disturbing, contaminating, or otherwise modifying physical evidence including fingerprint impressions.

The present invention aims to provide technique for contactless fingerprint capture, which does not require the use of custom devices, but can be performed by a user having an everyday mobile device (smartphone, tablet, etc.)

The use of the provided contactless fingerprint capture device and method enables operators to capture fingerprint images at crime scenes without making physical contact with evidence, and to capture fingerprint images of persons without making physical contact with those persons.

Once the fingerprint image is captured contactlessly and easily, the resulting fingerprint images are accurate enough to be used for database comparison, forensic examination, or other purposes for which it is desired to identify a person or persons based on a fingerprint or fingerprints.

Therefore, an aspect of some embodiments of the present invention relates to a method for determining a size of an object. The method includes: providing of a calibration card having a predetermined picture printed thereon; providing a first real size of at least one dimension of the picture to the computing device; setting a camera of a computing device to a fixed focus; capturing, with the camera, a first image of the calibration card, the first image being captured when the picture is in focus; measuring, via the computing device, a first virtual size of the at least one dimension in the first image in pixels; calculating via the computing device a pixel density of the first image, by dividing the first virtual size by the first real size; capturing, with the camera, a second image of an object, when the object is in focus; measuring, via the computing device, a second virtual size of at least one distance between two virtual points located on the second image; calculating, via the computing device, a second real size of at least one distance between two real points of the object corresponding to the two virtual points, by dividing the second virtual size by the pixel density; storing the second real size.

In a variant, setting the camera to the fixed focus comprises selecting the fixed focus from a plurality of fixed foci.

In another variant, the computing device comprises a processor and memory. Providing the first real size to the computing device comprises installing machine-readable instructions in the memory, the machine-readable instruction comprising card data indicative of the first real size.

In a variant, the camera comprises a display configured for displaying the first image in real time. Capturing the first image comprises: wherein capturing the first image comprises: receiving, by computing device, and instruction to capture the first image when an image of the picture on the display is in focus, after a user has moved the camera and/or the calibration card with respect to each other, until an image of the picture is displayed in focus on the display; activating the camera to capture the received image in response to the user instruction.

In a variant, providing the picture comprises providing a focusing artefact configured to be seen clearly on the display only when the card is in focus.

The focusing artefact may comprise at least one of a Siemens star, a spoke target.

In a variant, measuring the first virtual size comprises: locating, via the computing device, at least two corners on the picture; and measuring a distance between the two corners.

In a variant, the computing device comprises the camera.

In a variant, the object is a finger pad and the second image is an image of a finger pad, the method further comprising: processing the second image and using the second real size to generate a fingerprint impression of the finger pad.

In a variant, the method comprises comparing the fingerprint to a plurality of known fingerprints.

In a variant, processing the second image comprises: providing a machine learning system stored on the computing device or on a remote server and configured to generate the fingerprint impression of the finger form the second image and using the second real size; and processing, by the machine learning system, the second image and the second real size to generate the fingerprint impression.

In a variant, providing the machine learning system comprises: providing a plurality of training fingerprint impressions in black and white; synthetically generating, by a second computing device, a plurality of training images of finger pads, each training image resembling a photographed image of a finger pad and being generated by a respective one of the training fingerprint impressions; using the plurality of fingerprint impressions and the plurality of corresponding training images to train the machine learning system to generate a fingerprint impression from a photographed finger pad image.

In a variant, synthetically generating, the plurality of training images of finger pads comprises: inverting the training fingerprint impressions, such that black regions are converted to white while white regions are converted to black, so that ridges of each fingerprint impression are shown in white while a background of each impression is shown in black; removing black color from each background, leaving only the white ridges; embossing and beveling the ridges, thereby creating a three-dimensional appearance in which the ridges have a simulated shadow; filling each background with a gray layer; applying noise; applying lighting effects to make certain regions of each training image appear darker and other regions of each training image appear lighter.

In a variant, the machine learning system comprises a generative adversarial network.

Another aspect of some embodiments of the present invention relates to a system for determining a size of an object, the system comprising a calibration card and a computing device. The calibration card has a predetermined picture printed thereon. The computing device has a camera, a processor, and a memory, and the memory storing at least one dimension of the picture and machine-readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to: set a camera of a computing device to a fixed focus; operate the camera to capture a first image of the calibration card according to a user instruction to the computing device, the first image being captured via the camera when the picture is in focus; receive the first image from the camera; measure a first virtual size in the first image in pixels, the first virtual size corresponding to the at least one dimension; calculate a pixel density of the first image, by dividing the first virtual size by the first real size; operate the camera to capture a second image of an object according to a user instruction to the computing device, the second image being captured via the camera when the object is in focus; receive the second image from the camera; measure a second virtual size of at least one distance between two virtual points located on the second image; calculate a second real size of at least one distance between two real points of the object corresponding to the two virtual points, by dividing the second virtual size by the pixel density.

In a variant, the computing device comprises a display configured for displaying the first image in real time. The picture comprises a focusing artefact configured to be seen clearly on the display only when the card in focus.

In a variant, the processor is configured to measuring the first virtual size by: locating, via the computing device, at least two corners on the picture; and measuring a distance between the two corners.

In a variant, the object is a finger pad and the second image is an image of a finger pad, the system comprising, in the machine-readable instructions, image processing instructions configured to cause the processor to process the second image and use the second real size to generate a fingerprint impression image of the finger pad.

In a variant, the system further comprises a server configured to communicate with the computing device via a network, the server comprising a second processor and a second memory, the second memory storing second machine-readable instructions which, when executed, cause the processor to process the second image and use the second real size to generate a fingerprint impression image of the finger pad.

A further aspect of some embodiments of the present invention relates to machine-readable instructions configured to be executed by a processor and cause the processor of a computing device to: set a camera of a computing device to a fixed focus according to a first user instruction; receive from the camera a first image of a calibration card having a predetermined picture printed thereon, the first image being photographed by a second user instruction to the computing device, the first image being captured via the camera when the picture is in focus; measure a first virtual size in the first image in pixels, the first virtual size corresponding to the at least one dimension; calculate a pixel density of the first image, by dividing the first virtual size by the first real size; receive from the camera a second image of an object, the second image being photographed by a third user instruction to the computing device, when the object is in focus; measure a second virtual size of at least one distance between two virtual points located on the second image; calculate a second real size of at least one distance between two real points of the object corresponding to the two virtual points, by dividing the second virtual size by the pixel density.

Other features and aspects of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the features in accordance with embodiments of the invention. The summary is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, which is defined solely by the claims attached hereto.

The figures are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. It should be understood that the invention can be practiced with modification and alteration, and that the invention be limited only by the claims and the equivalents thereof.

From time-to-time, the present invention is described herein in terms of example environments. Description in terms of these environments is provided to allow the various features and embodiments of the invention to be portrayed in the context of an exemplary application. After reading this description, it will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art how the invention can be implemented in different and alternative environments.

Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as is commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. All patents, applications, published applications and other publications referred to herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety. If a definition set forth in this section is contrary to or otherwise inconsistent with a definition set forth in applications, published applications and other publications that are herein incorporated by reference, the definition set forth in this document prevails over the definition that is incorporated herein by reference.

Referring now to the drawings,is a flowchartillustrating a method for calculating a size of a photographed object, according to some embodiments of the present invention.is a block diagram illustrating a systemfor calculating the size of the object.

The systemofincludes a calibration card, a computing device. The computing devicemay be connected to a remote servervia a network. In some embodiments of the present invention, the remote serveris also part of the systemof the present invention.

The computing deviceincludes a camera, a first processor, and a first memory. The first memorystores machine-readable instructionsand optionally card data. The computing devicemay be any computing device, such as a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a smart phone, a tablet, for example.

The remote serverincludes a second processorand a second memory. The second memory stores second machine-readable instructions, and optionally the card data.

At, the calibration cardis provided, having a predetermined pictureprinted thereon. The picture includes a focusing artefactconfigured to be seen clearly on a display of the computing deviceonly when the card is in focus. For example, the focusing artefactcomprises at least one of a Siemens star, a spoke target. In some embodiments of the present invention, the focusing artefact is surrounded squaresof a chess board or a charuco board. In some embodiments of the present invention, the height of the focusing artefact is the same as the height as a squareor has a height which is a multiple or the height of the square (such that the height of the square multiplied by an integer number yields the height of the focusing artefact). Similarly, in the same embodiment, the width of the focusing artefact is the same as the width as a squareor has a width which is a multiple or the width of the square (such that the width of the square multiplied by an integer number yields the width of the focusing artefact). In this manner, the focusing artefactis a rectangle having corners aligned with corners of the adjacent squares.

At, a first real size of at least one dimension of the picture is provided to the computing device. The first real size may be provided by installing machine-readable instructionswith card data. The card datais indicative of at least one dimension (e.g., width, height, diagonal) of the focusing artefact.

At, the cameraof the computing deviceis set at a fixed focus. This may include setting the camera to the fixed focus selected from a plurality of predetermined fixed foci, according to a user input.

At, a first image of the calibration card is captured by using the camera. The first image is captured when the picture on the calibration cardis in focus (at the fixed focus set earlier). The camera may include a display configured for displaying the first image in real time. The first image may be captured by the user moving the camera and/or the calibration card with respect to each other, until an image of the picture is displayed (to the user) in focus on the display and by instructing (by the user) the computing device to capture the first image when the image of the picture on the display is in focus.

At, the computing devicemeasures a first virtual size of the at least one dimension in the first image in pixels. For example, if the first dimension of the picture is the length of the focusing artefact, the virtual size of the dimension in pixels is the length (from side to side) of the focusing artefact in the image. In the embodiment in which the focusing artefactis aligned with the corners of surrounding squares, the computing devicecan easily identify the location of the corners and accurately measure the first virtual size.

At, the computing devicecalculates a pixel density of the first image, by dividing the first virtual size by the first real size.

At, a second image is captured via the camera. The second image is the image of an object, and is captured when the object is in focus (at the fixed focus set earlier). The user may see when the object is in focus via the display of the camera(which may correspond to the display of the computing device).

Atthe computing devicemeasures a second virtual size of at least one distance between two virtual points located on the second image. The distance of the object may be a length of the object, a width of the object, or any other dimension identified by the computing device. To this end, the first machine-readable instructions may include image processing software configured to identify an object in focus as the object of interest.

At, the computing devicecalculates a second real size of at least one distance between two real points of the object corresponding to the two virtual points, The calculation is performed by dividing the second virtual size by the pixel density.

At, the second real size is stored in the memory of the computing device.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the object is a finger pad. At, the second image and the second real size are processed to generate a fingerprint impression of the finger pad. Once the fingerprint impression is generated, the fingerprint impression may be compared to a plurality of known fingerprints on a database accessible by the computing device. The database may be a free database available to anyone, or a database accessible to users having specific credentials.

In some embodiments of the present invention the processing of the second image to generate a fingerprint impression is performed by the computing devicevia the first machine-readable instructions. The first machine-readable instructionsmay include instructions for running a machine learning system pre-trained to generate the fingerprint impression of the finger form the second image and using the second real size.

In some embodiments of the present invention the processing of the second image to generate a fingerprint impression is performed by a machine learning system stored on the remote server. The machine learning system is configured to use the second machine-readable instructionsto generate the fingerprint impression of the finger form the second image and using the second real size.

Data indicative of the second image and the second real size is communicated from the computing deviceto the remote servervia the network.